1,845 people claimed unemployment benefits in Stratford district in June, a third monthly fall but up 210 in a year. The 2.2% rate is well below the UK's 3.9%.
1,845 people across Stratford-on-Avon district were claiming unemployment-related benefits in June, according to the Office for National Statistics claimant count, the third monthly fall in a row after the count peaked at 1,920 in March. It is still 210 more than in June last year, when the figure was 1,635. (ONS claimant count, published via Nomis)
That puts the district’s claimant rate at 2.2 per cent of residents aged 16 to 64, comfortably the lowest rate in the area’s comparisons: Warwickshire as a whole stands at 2.9 per cent, the West Midlands region at 5.3 per cent and the UK at 3.9 per cent on the same measure.
The claimant count records people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance plus those on Universal Credit who are required to look for work. It is not the full unemployment measure, but it is the only jobs figure published every month at district level, which makes it the best regular signal of how the labour market is moving across Stratford-upon-Avon, Alcester, Shipston-on-Stour, Southam and the rest of the district.
A year of rises that has started to unwind
The monthly figures from June 2025 to June 2026 run 1,635; 1,635; 1,640; 1,690; 1,705; 1,755; 1,760; 1,840; 1,875; 1,920; 1,885; 1,860; 1,845. The count climbed steadily through the autumn and winter, first topping 1,800 in January at 1,840, and peaked at 1,920 in March 2026. It has fallen in each of the three months since, though June’s 1,845 remains well above where the district started the year. (Nomis, claimant count for Stratford-on-Avon, retrieved 12 August 2026)
The rise over the year has been sharpest among the young. Claimants aged 16 to 24 rose from 220 in June 2025 to 340 in June 2026, an increase of more than half, while those aged 25 to 49 rose from 935 to 990 and those aged 50 and over from 480 to 515. Of June’s 1,845 claimants, 985 were men and 865 were women.
Even after a year of increases, the district’s 2.2 per cent rate means about one working-age resident in 45 is claiming, against one in 34 across Warwickshire (11,280 claimants), one in 19 in the West Midlands region (201,800) and one in 26 nationally (1,697,120).
What it means for you
If you are looking for work locally, the claimant count says competition for jobs here is lighter than almost anywhere in the region, and the pressure that built up over the winter has eased for three months running. If you have lost work or had your hours cut, the main route into support is Universal Credit, claimed online. Low-income households can also apply to the district council for Council Tax Reduction, which cuts the bill rather than paying cash.
A steady jobs market is also part of what keeps the local property market moving; our Stratford house prices page tracks what homes across the district actually sell for.
The July figures are due from the ONS later this month; we will report them when they appear on Nomis.
Update, 19 September 2026. The ONS has since revised June’s figure down from the 1,845 published at the time to 1,795. The Universal Credit part of the claimant count allows revisions to one previous month. The district’s August 2026 count is 1,870, and the age breakdown behind it is in our August claimant count report.
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